So a lottery, hum... Why not, although I am not sure it's the best idea.

On the other hand, here is an idea to limitate tourism and speculation:Tickets should only let you in the first 3 days of the festival.

Lile that, you cut out the last weekend crowd, that is -according to word of mouth, I have no statistics- using a lot of tickets, and tourists might be more likely to spend more to visit BRC for 1 or 2 days from Reno or Vegas.

But more important, it makes sense. We all know BM is not an experience that can be done in a couple of day; commitment and participation is part of it, and asking participant not to consider it as a weekend escapade seems to me a basic. If it can cut out 10% of the tickets sale by selecting only committed burner, it would be two good things achieved with one move.

Just a thought, but if anyone wanna take that further, I'd be happy to participate in that discussion!

It does not make sense. One of my favorite camp mates (and it's really hard to choose a favorite when you have such wonderful campmates, as I do) couldn't get away until Thursday this year. Assuming that all weekenders are tourists is lazy thinking.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

theCryptofishist wrote:It does not make sense. . . Assuming that all weekenders are tourists is lazy thinking.

I plan on coming out next year no matter how short that may be - even if it's only 1 or 2 days. This year (my first year) I drove a week, got there Sunday, and stayed through temple; however, I was fortunate that my classes didn't start until the Tuesday after the burn. Having a limited day pass would actually encourage tourism (as it would have to be discounted for incentive) so you could effectively have the 'tourist' ticket to only stop by and visit.

I was not really thinking about a tourist day pass. Au contraire, my idea is to say that you can only enter BRC the first 3 days.

Then I understand that a person that can only make it for 2 days is desperate to go, but some people will be hurt anyway by the ticket shortage, and under that rule, I think it's better to priviledge commitment over chance. BM works on the involvement of its inhabitants, so if by chance there's 35% of them that only come for the last few days, the whole event would suffer. Of course, I doubt that would happen, but as the lottery is planned, wealthy tourists have more chances to win the high end tiers tickets than committed yet broke Louisiana artists...

Besides, we all have other activities, and we are all sacrificing time and money for this. Labor day weekend is a huge business time for me, and Paris-BRC is a 6/7 days round trip. Again, commitment is part of the 10 rules, and in my opinion, being committed to staying the whole week should be valued. Yet I'm only saying that because some of us are going to end up stuck out of it... And I have never been too good with chance

Man, I hope this whole thing is not goign to turn like a new "green sun" event, where people will cry and be ready for anything to get their tickets.

Unfortunately Antoine, most of the worker drones here in the US are not blessed with government mandated, paid vacation time, etc that will allow people to clear a week or more off of their schedule.

I understand where your idea is coming from, but honestly, it sucks. Barricade the gate at 11:59pm on Wednesday night and hang out a closed sign. Friday morning will have riots breaking out on Gate Road as thousands of unwashed hippies and well polished frat boys and raver bunny girls unite in a spectacular union of patchouli and cologne, Good Will and J. Crew, hippy love bus and state of the art recreational vehicle. Crashing down the barricades, bravely hurling themselves into the wire of the flag pennant fence to make their way in... the cries from Lighthouse, "HIPPIES IN THE WIRE! HIPPIES IN THE WIRE!" before the Gate comm channel goes silent...

REALLY BAD IDEA. Really bad. Many, many people cannot come until the mid to end of the week. I have had years I was able to go for the full week, and years I couldn't get it off, and had to go midweek. One year I had to fly into Reno on Saturday morning and out on Monday morning. I would fly in for 2 days anytime just to go. If you have ever camped around the outer rows...you see how many people come in. The late arrivals generate the same amount of money as the people who are there all week. The idea that they are lazy, or lookie-loo's and not "real burners" is nothing but elitist bullshit.The lottery idea is GENIUS on the part of the Borg. People will pay the highest tier offered ( a true Burner principle) instead of snatching up the lower tiers. Personally, I think all the tickets should be right around $400 bucks a pop, no tiers. It's still a super good deal. There are scholarships and low income tickets available to those who truly need them, and have their poop in a group to apply for them early. No credit card? Purchase a prepaid Visa at the highest priice needed and let it sit til you get your ticket...and people will get thier tickets. This scarcity crap is ridiculous. The event didn't sell out until July.

Everything's going to be ok. Pass it on.

Everything's going to be ok. Maybe. Pass it on.

What do you mean we can't drive on the playa anymore??!! Burning Man Apocalypse of '97

Have to agree w/the naysayers. The first year we attended only for a few days because we wanted to see what BM was all about. Loved it, of course, and have gone back for the full week plus as part of a theme camp. We could lose a lot of potentially great Burners by limiting access if they can't do the full week.

Life is not about the destination, we all come to the same end eventually; it's about the journey, so enjoy it while you can!

sandgoddess wrote:REALLY BAD IDEA. Really bad. Many, many people cannot come until the mid to end of the week. I have had years I was able to go for the full week, and years I couldn't get it off, and had to go midweek. One year I had to fly into Reno on Saturday morning and out on Monday morning. I would fly in for 2 days anytime just to go. If you have ever camped around the outer rows...you see how many people come in. The late arrivals generate the same amount of money as the people who are there all week. The idea that they are lazy, or lookie-loo's and not "real burners" is nothing but elitist bullshit.The lottery idea is GENIUS on the part of the Borg. People will pay the highest tier offered ( a true Burner principle) instead of snatching up the lower tiers. Personally, I think all the tickets should be right around $400 bucks a pop, no tiers. It's still a super good deal. There are scholarships and low income tickets available to those who truly need them, and have their poop in a group to apply for them early. No credit card? Purchase a prepaid Visa at the highest priice needed and let it sit til you get your ticket...and people will get thier tickets. This scarcity crap is ridiculous. The event didn't sell out until July.

Everything's going to be ok. Pass it on.

There will be no late summer tickets.

Whose ass do you figure ticket (after the lottery) will fall out of..

People that are bumped out of a level sold out have no way to bid on a level that is not..

Antoine wrote:On the other hand, here is an idea to limitate tourism and speculation:Tickets should only let you in the first 3 days of the festival.

Um, no.

One of my best friends is a teacher, he's lucky if he can get out there on Thursday. He's loves the event as much as anyone I've met, and to deny him or the people like him access because you think that everyone who comes on weekends is a "tourist" is burnier-than-thou bullshit at it's worst.

Don't like the weekend tourists? Why don't you leave on Thursday so you don't have to see them? That way they get their fun and the false purity of your event isn't ruined.

It's a camping trip in the desert, not the redemption of the fallen world - Cryptofishist

I can't remember whether I've said this here or not, but that video inspired a club night here in town, and it's comin' up again. A bunch of club kids who normally take themselves way too seriously will be wearing rubber boots, party pants, and tons of fuckin' sequins, as the saying goes. Since I don't attend Regional events, it's the closest thing to a Burn that I attend in the off-season.

Savannah wrote:I can't remember whether I've said this here or not, but that video inspired a club night here in town, and it's comin' up again. A bunch of club kids who normally take themselves way too seriously will be wearing rubber boots, party pants, and tons of fuckin' sequins, as the saying goes. Since I don't attend Regional events, it's the closest thing to a Burn that I attend in the off-season.

CAN NOT WAIT.

A group performed Sparkle Party for BootieSF about a month ago- it was brilliant. Makes me wish my beard didn't get caught on sequins (yes, I found out the hard way)

It's a camping trip in the desert, not the redemption of the fallen world - Cryptofishist

We don't have anybody performing the Sparkle Party up here, we just are the Sparkle Party . . . And the song gets hauled out once attendance hits appropriate levels. It's especially fun because all the folks participating are:

Savannah wrote:We don't have anybody performing the Sparkle Party up here, we just are the Sparkle Party . . . And the song gets hauled out once attendance hits appropriate levels. It's especially fun because all the folks participating are:

Anyway, just about everyone gets bashed on eplaya. Much of it is in fun. Much of the rest is from frustration. In the end, being the domineer power in Europe from the time of the Sun King to the time of the Emperor is likely to leave some bad feeling behind. And then, well growing up in a pretentious town like Berkeley, post wwii, with relatives in Austria and Germany just made me feel picked on. And I never did warm up to much of French culture. There, a tissue of justification--you can blow your nose.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

So a lottery implies a degree of luck, right? And if a theme camp has alot of unlucky people the group goes puff? As much as I love gambling and sparkle ponies, they are a spice for the stew that is BRC, I do need to have some assurance that all the stake holders of our camp can get a ticket.How does one make a commitment to the camp when one can't be sure they'll get in?

Besides, the number of people who don't get in will be relatively small (5% maybe--note this is a guess), and it sounds like you'll know by early summer, say July 15, so you'll have six weeks to make other plans.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

theCryptofishist wrote:How do you make a commitment to anything in an uncertain world?

Besides, the number of people who don't get in will be relatively small (5% maybe--note this is a guess), and it sounds like you'll know by early summer, say July 15, so you'll have six weeks to make other plans.

That would be rude..My read is ticket notices will come by email post lottery spin..Holding back the paper ticket to 15 July messes with the scalpers..I'm sure a good scalper can get around that tho..

theCryptofishist wrote:How do you make a commitment to anything in an uncertain world?

Besides, the number of people who don't get in will be relatively small (5% maybe--note this is a guess), and it sounds like you'll know by early summer, say July 15, so you'll have six weeks to make other plans.

That would be rude..My read is ticket notices will come by email post lottery spin..Holding back the paper ticket to 15 July messes with the scalpers..I'm sure a good scalper can get around that tho..

Yeah, I'm not sure if they do all rounds of ticket lottery on one day or do one every other week for four months.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri